Sewing-machine.



' J. E. MILLER.

SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 1330.16, 1907.

Patented June 8, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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' J. E. MILLER.

SEWING MAGHINE. IAPPLIGATION FILED 1120.16, 1907.

Patented June 8, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor,

' ma 6, X Allin nay.

J. E. MILLER.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.16, 1907.

Pa-teilted June 3, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

/M Attorney WL finesse-s J. E.-MILLER.

V SEWING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO.16, 1907.

924,175. Patented June 8,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Witnesses, I

mice being had to the accompanying drawsuch sewing machine with mechanism for varying sizes may be filled andindiscriminately placed upon such conveying and is general plan of an apparatus embodying is atransverse 886121011 on the line 7- -7. of

' sewing a fabric passing said head in an upmechanism. 1

U ITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEssE E. MILLER, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented l une 8, 1909.

Application filed. December 16, '1907. Serial No. 406,651.

To it my concern:

'Be 1t 'known'that I, JEssE E. MILLER, a

of Tennessee, have inventedv a new'and useful -Im%rovement i n Sewing Machines, of which t'e. following 1s a specification, referimprovement relates particularly to sewmgmachines'forclosing filled bags, such bags being closed bysewing across the upper endinstead of tying such end. The object of theinvention is to provide guiding and conveyin bags of .varyingsizes to the sewing hearhin order that bags of g mechanism and by the latter .propei'ly presented to the sewing head.

In-the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 my improvement, portions being broken ajyay; -Fig'.' 2' is. an upright section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig: 3 is-a larger detail Ian of the, mechanism shown in the left and portion of Fig. 1;"F' 41s a section on the line of F 3, I00 ing in the direc tion of the arrow Fi s. 5 and 6 are detail views of a rackmnd lever involved in the raising and lqwering of the convcyerf; Fig. 7

right plane. (2) mechanism for driving the sewing mechanism, and relatively long conveying mechanism extending from one or a plurality of bag-filling stations or machines from which filled bags of varying sizes are indiscriminately placed upon said conveying A designates the frame supporting the sewing head, B.

C represents the conveyer.

7 filling machines.- c1t1zen of the United States, residin at Kne'xvllle, 1n the'oounty' of Knox and tate horizontal shaft, 10, under the table, 2.

D, D, D are bag-filling stationsor bag- The frame, A, 1; a "horizontal table portion, 2; a head standard, 3, mounted upon the front portion of said table, 2, and supporting the head, B, having the depending outer arm, 4:, and inner arm, 5, which correspond, respectively,

:to'the ordinary upper arm and lower arm or base plate of ordinary forms of sewing machines.

I For the driving of the sewing mechanism,

the usual band wheel, 6, receives a band, '7,

has fourupright standards,

extending around said wheel and around two guide wheels, 8, on the head standard, 3, and

thence around a grooved wheel, 9, onsthe aid shaft, 10, is driven by a belt, 11, from a band wheel, 12, on the horizontal power shaft, 13,

mounted inbearing s, 14, in the rear frame standards, 1, 1. On said shaft, 13, is a'fixed pulley, 15, and a loose pulley, 16, to receive a power belt not shown.

The conveyer, C, is parallel to the front of the frame, A, and directly beneath the sewing head. Thence it extends any "desired distance to the stations or machine's, D, preferably'in a direct line. conveniently be twenty, thirty, or forty feet, or more. In the form shown in the drawings, said conveyer is constructed as follows: Parallel horizontal base bars, 17, support standards, 18, which in turn support at their upper ends cross pieces, 19, upon which rest a middle relatively wide board, 20, a

front strip, 21, and a rear rising-strip, 22. At the foot. end (the end the farther from the sewing mechanism) of the frame thus formed is a roller or band wheel, 28,.having hearings -in the sliding 'U-shape yoke, 24, confined between thebase bars, 17, and bars, 25, arranged parallel to said bars, 17. From said yoke a screw-shaft, '26, extends through a nut, 27, which bears against the face of a cross-bar, 28, between said cross-bar and said wheel, 23, said cross-bar being secured to the base bars, 17 By turning said nut the proper direction, said screw-shaft,

yoke, and band Wheel may be pushed away f1 mm the sewing mechanism or toward and from the sewing mechanism. Said frame extends-to within ten or fifteen feet of the frame, A. At a distance from the frame, A, the said conveyer frame is provided with a horizontal hinge. For such hinging of said Said distance may frame, all the horizontal frame pieces are I cut transversely and oblique standards,

are secured to the head. ends of the base bars, 1:, at one side of the utand ears, ()6, rise 3 from said base bars at th other side of said out and are joined to said oblique standards by a shaft or pintle, 37, extending hori- Uponthehead ends of the base bars, 17, i

are seated bearings, 38 in which is jour-' naled the shaft, 38, of a band wheel, 39, which is of approximately the same size as the band wheeh-QS, at the foot end of the of said conveyer frame and around the band wheels, 23 and 39. Between said wheels, the

upper portion of said -belt rests slidably upon the middle boards, 20; and the lower portion of said belt extends between the base bars, 17, of said frame. The tension of said belt may be-varied by shifting the wheel, 23, at the front end of the conveyer. The hinged end of said conveyer is supported by a pair of upright links, 41, which are hinged by their upper ends to the base bars, 17, and

by their lower ends to approximately horizontal rigid arms, 42, siipported by a horizontal transverse rmk-shaft, 43, the front end of which rests in a bearing, 4A, in the lower portion of a segment rack, 4:5, (Figs. & and 8) while the rear end thereof rests in a bearing, 46, (Figs. 1, 2 and 7 From said rock shaft, at the side of said segment rack, a5, a rack lever, 47, rises above said rack. Said lever is provided with a sliding member, 4L8,v which is adapted to engage andlock in any one of three notches, 49. Each of said notches is in a block, 50, which is secured to the rack, 45, by means of a bolt, 51, extending through said block and a slot, 52, in said segment and concentric to the axis of the segment. Thus said-blocks are adjustable on the are of a circle of which the axis of the segment is the center. By such adjustment, the rack lever and its connections may be made to support the head or free end of the hinged frame of the conveyer at three precise chosen elevations within the range of movement which can be imparted by said lever. For example, two of said blocks may be set for engaging said lever at the opposite limits of movement of said lever while the other of said blocks is set exactly midway between the other blocks. Or any one of said blocks may be set to any other position in order to hold bags of a particular size at the precise height required while passing the sewing mechanism. The value of such adjustment will be understood when it is remembered that the second of three sizes of bags may not reach precisely half way between the largest and the smallportion of the stationary portion of the conveyer frame by standards, 54, rising from the rear portion of said frame; and a similar fender, 55, is similarly support-ed above the rear portion of the hinged portion of the frame of the conveyer by standards, 56, rising from the rear portion of said hinged portion of the frame. The function of said fenders is to support bags which'lcan rearward so far that they terfd to fall. stationary frame of the conveyer. An end- Q lessconveyer belt, 40, extends the full'length 1 On the rear end of the; shaft, 38, is a sprocket wheel, 57,- which receives a sprocke chain, 58, which also surrounds a sprocket wheel, 59, on the horizontal shaft, 60, resting in bearings, 61. On said shaft is a worm gear wheel, 62, which is engaged by a worm, 63, on the power shaft, 13.

By means of the gearing just described power is transmitted to the conveyor belt at a velocity which is lower compared with the velocity imparted to the sewing head.

Between the sprocket wheel, 57. and the adjacent bearing, 38 a sleeve, 64. loosely surrounds the shaft, 38, andfrom said sleeve an arm, 65, extends toward the shaft, 60, approximately parallel to the sprocket. chain, 58. On said arm a wrist, 66. extends horizontally rearward beneath said chain and supports an idle sprocket wheel, (5?. From the arm, 65, a cord, 68, extends over a loose pulley, 69, and has one end secured to the arm, 65, while its other end is secured toa weight, 70. Said weight tends to draw said cord over said pulley and causes the latter to lift the arm, 65, and thereby press the idle sprocket wheel, 67, upward against the sprocket chain, 58, and impart to said chain a proper degree of tension, notwithstanding the upward and downward movements of the adjacent end of the conveyor frame and the sprocket wheel, 57.

To facilitate the upward and downward movement of the free end of the hinged section of the conveyor, said section may be counterbalanced in any --uitable manner. In the form shown in the drawings. this is accomplished by means of a yoke or bail, a cord, two guide pulleys, and/a counterweight. The bail, T1, spans the couve vcr frame and is secured thereto by bolts. T2. The cord, 73, extends over the guide rollers. 74, and has one end attached to said bail while the other end is attached to the counter-weight, 75.

. sewing head seams D, and the bags are set upright upon the conveyor, G, at points on the latter most convenient to said stations. Said bags are set upon the conveyor with suflicicnt force to cause the flattening of their lower portions so as to form a base adapting the bag to stand upright without support. In such position each bag is carried toward thesewing head, and the attendant at said mechanism operates the rack lever,47, for the raising or lowering of the hinged section of the con veyer the height of the bags on the conveyor; and said attendant gives such assistance as may be necessary to the sewing operation, as, for example, the drawing of the mouth of the bag parallel to the line of travel and guiding said mouth betweenthe base plate and arm of the sewing headf After passing said sewing head, the bag falls over the adjacent and of the conveyer and through the floor opening, 76, upon any conveying mechanism adapted to convey sewed bags to places for storage or upon cars or wagons.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus of the'nature described, a sewing head, a relatively long and approximately straight and horizontal conveyor member having one end hinged at a fixed elevation distant from the sewing head supporting frame and the other end extending benezth the sewing head, quick-acting mechanism for raising and lowering the free end of said hinged section, and mechanism for driving said sewing head and said conveyer.

In an apparatus of the nature described, a sewing head, a relatively long and approximately straight and horizontal conveyer comprising an approximately hori zontal frame section having one end extends ing beneath the sewing head and being hinged by the other end, said hinged end having a substantially fixed elevation, mechanism for raising and lowering the free end of said section, mechanism for driving said and said conveyor, and a counterbalance for said. hinged frame. i

In an apparatus of the nature described, a sewing head supporting frame, a sewing head, a relatively long and approximately straight and horizontal conveyor frame comprising an approximately horizontal section having one end hinged at a fixed elevation and distant from the sewing head supporting frame and the other end extending beneath the sewing ahead, an. endless belt as may be necessary by variations in l l l l l 1 l l l l l l anism for raising and lowering said hing section, mechanism for locking said raising and lowering mechanism in chosen positions, and mechanism for driving said sewing head and said conveyor belt.

4. In an apparatus of the nature described, a sewing head supporting frame, a sewing head, a relatively long and approximately straightand horizontal conveycr comprising an approximately horizontal section having one end hinged at a fixed elevation and distantfrom the sewing head supporting frame and the other end extending beneath the sewing head, quick-acting mechanism for raising and lowering the free end of-said hinged section, mechanism for locking; said raising and lowering mechanism in chosen positions, mechanism for driving said sewing head, and driving mechanism engaging the free end of said hinged conveyor section.

mounted on said frame, quick-acting mech 5. In an apparatus of the nature describedgff a sewin head a relativel 1on and a a 7 H proximately straight and horizontal; conveyer comprising an approximately hori zontal' frame section having one end extending beneath the sewing head and being hinged by the other end, a lever in operative relation with said hinged section for. raising" latter, mechanismffor enand lowering the gaging said lever in different positions, and mechanism for driving said sewing head and said conveyor.

6. In an apparatus of the nature described. a sewing head, a conveyor having a. hinged section extending beneath the sewing head, the hinged end of said section having a substantially fixed elevation, a lever in operative relation with said hinged section for raising and lowering the latter,

and adjust able mechanism for engaging said lever in different positions.

a sewing head, a conveyor having a hinged 7. In anapparatus of the nature described 1 0 section extending beneath the sewing head,

a rack lever'in-operative relation with said hinged section .for raising and lowerin the latter, and a rack having adjustable b ocks for engaging said lever in different positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of December, in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven.

JESSE E.1\IILLER.

Witnesses CYRUS KEHR,

C. A. MORSE. 

